『Abstract
China is quickly building up its nuclear power capacity while
the hailed nuclear renaissance in the United States has been largely
stagnant. The political and industrial structures explain the
divergent paths. This paper draws lessons from the French experiences
in deploying nuclear power and uses the lessons in comparing Chinese
and U.S. policies. An authoritative political system and state-owned
utility industry allow China to emulate the French approaches
such as government-backed financing and broad-scale deployment
with standardized design. The democratic political system and
fragmented utility industry, and the laissez-faire ideology in
the United States, on the other hand, are unfavorable to a nuclear
renaissance. The prospect of a nuclear revival in the United States
remains highly uncertain.
As China builds up its nuclear industry, it will be able to reduce
carbon emissions without a carbon price through a national plan
to deploy low-carbon nuclear electricity, while the United States
cannot implement a climate policy without a carbon price. American
politicians should stop using China's lack of carbon cap as an
excuse for postponing the legislation of a carbon price.
Keywords: Nuclear power; Climate policy; Energy policy; China』
1. Introduction
2. Nuclear buildup in China
3. Touted nuclear renaissance in the United States
4. Implications of Chinese and U.S. nuclear divergence
Acknowledgments
References